A Staten Island school bus matron New York City’s term for an aide or monitor — for students with special needs pleaded guilty to criminal trespassing after being accused of invading the home of a family from her route with a knife, reported SLive News.
The incident reportedly occurred on Dec. 6, when 59-year-old Joanne Dash entered the unidentified family’s property in the New Springville neighborhood.
According to the news report, a person at the home told authorities the defendant was in the area that leads to the main living room armed with a knife. An 18-year-old male resident came downstairs and encountered Dash before she fled in a vehicle but not before shouting, “You cost me my job.”
Dash was reportedly arrested on Dec. 17. Court documents do not state whether she had any interactions with anyone at the home prior to the incident, but sources with knowledge of the case said the victims were from her school bus route.
The article states that Dash was arraigned in criminal court on May 1, was granted supervised release, and appeared in supreme court last week on her own volition. The court, meanwhile, issued a full and final order of protection for the owner and residence of the property where the incident took place.
On June 5 while in court, Dash’s attorney John Rapawy told the judge that his client was fully aware of the terms of her plea deal and that she had full support of her family in putting the matter behind her. It remains unclear why Dash tresspassed the property in the first place.
The defendant reportedly assured the court that she was willing to waive several rights in taking a guilty plea, including the right to appeal and to review the prosecution’s evidence.
Per the approval of prosecutors and after further investigation, the court ordered Dash to complete 16 courses of anger management as a means to resolve the case. The defendant was reportedly facing the possibility of between five and 25 years in prison had she been convicted by a jury on the top count in connection to the incident.
If Dash violates the terms of the plea deal, she could be sentenced to one year in jail.
Two years ago, 5-year-old A.M., a child with autism, became the victim of bullying on the school bus he rode to elementary school in the Poudre School District of Fort Collins, Colorado. The perpetrator of A.M.’s abuse was not a fellow student, but a school bus attendant the district had hired to provide students like him with extra support.
Not only was A.M., whose full name is withheld in court documents, restrained in a school bus seat throughout the months-long abuse, his disability rendered him nonverbal, leaving him unable to ask for help or tell his parents what was happening.
The school board agreed to pay out $16.2 million on May 14 to settle a lawsuit filed by parents of A.M. and other students with disabilities who were abused by Tyler Zanella while being transported to and from school during the 2022-2023 school year.
Comparatively, the settlement is about 15 percent of the district’s $10.3 million transportation services budget for this past school year.
After voting to accept the settlement, Poudre school board president Kristen Draper said she hoped the amount would help foster healing and rebuild trust.
“This resolution represents our collective commitment to addressing the harm caused and to supporting the ongoing recovery and well-being of these students and their families,” Draper said.
A.M. was not Zanella’s only victim. In all, county prosecutors say the attendant abused 10 students that school year.
The district uncovered Zanella’s criminal history and a previous child abuse conviction during a background check before he was hired in August 2022. A.M.’s parents also voiced concern about the attendant throughout the school year, but their words did not prompt change until a teacher stepped in.
When A.M. came to class with red marks on his face, a teacher asked questions, prompting the school district to review camera footage and report the abuse to police.
Internal bus camera footage documented Zanella swearing at A.M., calling him names, and subjecting him to physical abuse, slapping, pinching, and pushing the restrained child dozens of times over several months. According to court documents, Zanella called A.M. a f—–,” “little sh–,” and said, “if A.M. were his kid, he would be dead by now because Mr. Zanella did not have that kind of patience.”
Zanella, 36, ultimately pleaded guilty to seven counts of assault on an at-risk person, as well as harassment, and child abuse. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison in April 2024.
He also had a previous misdemeanor child abuse conviction when he applied for the position at Poudre School District. Title 22 of the Colorado Revised Statutes lists felony child abuse as cause for termination or withholding employment.
David Lane, A.M.’s attorney, said in an email he was shocked that Zanella had been hired after school officials learned of his criminal history and that he had lied about it.
“It is utterly incomprehensible how a school district could allow a convicted child abuser to have access to utterly helpless children in this situation,” Lane wrote. “Ultimately, this governmental failure will cost the taxpayers millions of dollars and these innocent children have been severely damaged.”
Following the incident, the district spent $2 million on internal policies, which included hiring consultants at the Center for Effective School Operations, or CESO, to review the district’s policies. Among primary recommendations, CESO suggested the district develop procedures for camera footage requests and supervisor audits.
In a school board presentation on the transportation review findings last summer, Chief Operations Officer Jeff Connell reflected on how school bus driver shortages led to mechanics and supervisors driving buses, and many employees taking shortcuts.
Connell said the district was hiring an integration services transportation manager dedicated to coordinating support for students with disabilities as well as a second operations manager. Per the CESO recommendation, Connell said both managers would oversee north and south terminals to maintain a consistent culture across both locations. Connell said he hoped to cover the budget for the positions by increasing route efficiencies.
The school district previously maintained three days of video footage from each camera. Supervisors are now required to review at least one hour of footage each week, “with an emphasis on routes that have new staff and routes that serve students with special needs – particularly students who are pre- or non-verbal.”
Moving forward, the district promised to update cameras on all school buses—a $1.9 million cost paid for with bonds. The district hired transportation service provider Zum to install four internal cameras on each school bus, including a driver-facing camera with a built-in coaching system.
“There’s a lot of hours of video to go through between ride-alongs, reviewing the video, following up on incidences and also having the driver-coaching camera, we’re going to have a lot of information available to us that we’ve never had before,” Connell said.
Draper described the incident as a painful chapter in the school district’s history but added that she hoped it would prove to be a “catalyst for important and necessary improvements.”
A school bus aid in Howard County, Maryland, was accused of sexual assault against students, reported WBAL TV 11.
According to the news report, 80-year-old Albert Rice, Jr. was charged with sexual assault and a fourth-degree sex offense after he was accused of hurting two students.
Police said detectives received reports that Rice allegedly hit a non-verbal student on a school bus. Surveillance video was pulled and police found evidence of Rice hitting a 13-year-old non-verbal student and inappropriately touching another 13-year-old student.
According to charging documents obtained by local news reporters, video of the incident showed the teen first struck Rice, who responded by hitting the teen in the face while she was secured in a seatbelt. The charging documents also state that Rice admitted to investigators that he was frustrated with the victim when he hit her.
Detectives stated via the article that Rice is an aide for a school bus that transports students to to the Linwood Center, a non-public special education program in Ellicott City. He is reportedly not employed by the school but by transportation company Bowen Bus Services. Rice has been an aide for two and a half years. The school declined to comment further.
It is unclear when the incident occurred. However, back in February, Rice was reportedly suspended over an unspecified incident. Police say via the article there are no indications of other victims but anyone with information can contact the department. The investigation is ongoing.
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